hey i was wondering what you guys think might be wrong wiht my power steering.

first off it does have ps fluid in it and it is full.
second it works half assed and gives some help.
however it still takes some effort to turn the wheel.
every once in a while my power steering decides to work for a while and it works so well i could steer with one finger but soon after it gets stiff again.

do you guys think i have a bad sensor, dirt in the system somewhere, or a bad pump?
i am going to flush the system and try to get any impuritys out and see if it helps if not what should i do?

 

if you need any more info let me know

 

if its not working start with the pump and clean fluid not to hard of a decision lol.

 

Belt tension?

 

i felt that one would be to obvious to suggest ^^^^ but true

 

i already made sure its full and the belt is tight i will flush it in the next couple days and see

 

It could be the pressure releif valve in the pump is sticking open. Meaning that the pump is not building pressure like it should. This would be because of contaminants in the hydraulic system.
It's a fixed displacement pump, and it would build pressure until it burst like a bomb if it were not for some sort of pressure release. But, if it does not close, and seal, then you will not get full system pressure.

I would flush the system with new fluid. If that does not help, then it's time for a new pump. The check vavle has been damaged to the point of no return. Or maybe some more
If the pump is not making excessive noise, I think it's just dirty. They will make noise if there is bad wear. Moaning and groaning.

You can disconnect the return hose from the resevoir, and use it to drain the system.

While adding new fluid to the system, run the car on jack stands, and turn the steering from lock to lock. The helps if you have a partner to help. Make sure he keeps the resevoir full while draining the return fluid into a bucket.
I would reccoment running a bit of seafoam in the system for a days drive. This could help remove any possible sludge. But you may decide to try that after flushing with clean fluid. Make sure that you do not get any fluid on your paint. If you do, clean it off fast. It will eat it. I would reccomend covering the bucket with a towel to help keep it from possibly splashing. Especially if there is any air in the system.
Reconnect the return hose, and make sure that the resevoir remains full. Move steering from lock to lock a few more cycles and check level again. Do not overfill.

I think that has most of it.
I just woke up for work.

Good luck.

 

sounds exactly like what happened to me. you said ps fluid. it's a *****. this car takes ATF in the steering system. i tried to flush mine out with good stuff after i put actual power steering fluid. it helped a little but it's pretty much ruined. the first pump that goes up for sale on this site or anywhere around is mine. i've been looking for months.

 

You're right about the ATF. But, I don't see where I said Power Steering fluid. Just fluid.

 

no i was talking about rtmorgan. he said power steering fluid. i wasn't saying you were wrong at all

 

Oh cool. I would imagine that if it had the wrong fluid in there it would be making some noise from wear. Or maybe that check valve is made out of a material that deteriorates with power steering fluid?
What happens to the pumps if power steering fluid is used?

 

They are not designed to be operated/lubricated with PS fluid, so they usually fail... in addition to other components as well.

It is REALLY important that everyone reads their owner's manual before doing ANYTHING with fluids on ANY car. Never make assumptions.

 

what else fails....? is the rack messed up you think? i have basically the same symptoms as rtmorgan. i was hoping that a new pump would fix it.

ratfink: mine made no noise. i only used the PS fluid to top off though.

 

When I made that mistake way back in the day, I ended up having to replace the rack and pump (in addition to the hoses which were the reason I kept having to top off the system). Since then, I've never put a fluid in any vehicle without first making sure that it is the proper fluid. Especially with the power steering system - it is very common for PS systems to take ATF.

 

yeah it turns out that way. i had no idea. my last car didn't have power steering lol. is the rack really hard to replace?

 

I honestly don't know - I was working at Ultimate Z at the time and I had them replace it while they were doing my build (so the engine was out). I can't imagine it's too difficult, but being a suspension component, every bolt/nut is torqued like hell so it'll require some real effort.

 

and then sometimes the ball joints dont hold and start spinning that always SUCKS and its connected to the steering shaft those are never to fun to play with. it is difficult to do in an S30 not to bad but very cramped so in a Z32 with PS and that engine space you might be looking at a pretty tough project. steering racks arent all that fun to change.

 

hopefully when i flush it it fixes it

 

so are you saying that you did put ps fluid in it? if you did, i wouldn't get my hopes up. i did, and i flushed it, and it seemed fine for a few seconds, then once i got going and actually tried to turn the wheel with any speed, i realized that it wasn't getting any better.

 

if it doesnt then i will contact danny full service car wash and they will pay to have it fixed since they filled it up with ps fluid with stop leak when they did my oil. and i have it in writing what they did.

 

Nice. I don't let other people touch my cars.

 

i normally dont either but my dad paid for it so i could help him do something else instead of working on my car that weekend so...

 

You do what you have to do. You're lucky they did it. At least they should pay for it. Either that or a lawsuit.

 

i expect that it will come to a lawsuit. i have rarely ever heard of a shop paying to fix what they broke. it's usually "we broke this so can we have some more $"

 

I guarantee they didn't do that one on purpose... but this experience tells us two things...
1) don't trust other people to touch your car unless they're reputable
2) don't EVER let a "full service" car wash perform maintenance. What was your dad thinking? I won't even let a car wash WASH my car, let alone work on it.

Again, ATF in the PS system is common... any experienced shop would've checked.